Be a Plastic Cleanup Hero

The Aling Tindera waste-to-cash program turns women micro-entrepreneurs into sustainability champions by providing them with the infrastructure, resources and training to purchase and collect plastic waste from their community.

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Many of the women in this program run small “sari sari” or neighborhood stores that sell daily necessities. Community members can sell plastic waste to their local 'Aling Tindera', who cleans, bales and stores the plastic in a container van. When it’s full, the project partner collects the plastic and pays the Aling Tindera for each load. 

The project aims to create a circular economy by placing a value on plastic waste, and providing incremental income to the women and their communities.

The South Sulawesi province in Indonesia, which spans many islands and vast stretches of coastline, lacks waste management infrastructure and is a high risk area for ocean plastic leakage.  

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This project partner collects both rigid plastics as well as low value plastic waste, such as single use plastic bags and multi-layer packaging across a network of islands in South Sulawesi, which is processed into plastic pellets and flakes at their recycling centre in the province’s capital, Makassar.  

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The project partner buys plastic waste from informal sector waste pickers who collect it from unmanaged dumps and landfills in the area, preventing it from leaking into the environment, and also from locations within their communities, like houses, schools and offices.  The majority of the informal sector waste pickers in this area are women, who benefit from this initiative. 

Over 88% of the plastic waste generated in Nigeria is not collected nor recycled, and typically ends up in landfills, drains, rivers, lakes and the ocean. Sachets, which provide small units of affordable goods to people in developing markets, form a large part of day to day litter. 

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This project, which is committed to environmental sustainability and social upliftment, aims to create a circular economy by collecting and recycling ocean bound plastic. To encourage more collection, the project partner pays enhanced rates to informal waste pickers through collection agents, who sort and bale the plastic then transport it to their recycling plants.

This project collects discarded fishing gear in Patagonia, which has been hard hit by the plastic pollution crisis, and upcycles it into plastic crates. 

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Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear is the deadliest form of marine plastic, posing a threat to the majority of marine animals including whales, turtles and birds.  Some nets are lost by accident, but many are dumped in the ocean when they are no longer usable due a lack of collection and end of life solution.  Plastic nets and fishing line, which are made to withstand tough conditions, are durable and don’t break down easily.  

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This project has formed an alliance with a local fishing net factory, which encourages fishing fleets and fishermen to bring in used gear, such as nets, crates and buoys to collection points at ports across Argentina. Fishermen can also drop off used nets when they go in to purchase new ones. The project buys the used equipment from their partner and upcycles this mixed plastic into crates. 

This project partner recycles plastic collected by rag pickers from landfills, households, commercial buildings, and streets into plastic flakes, pellets and powders that are sold for use in a range of products, including water storage tanks, pipes and crates. 

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Like many emerging markets, India lacks adequate waste management infrastructure. Landfills, which often burn waste in India, emit cancer causing greenhouse gasses. Many rivers are clogged with unmanaged plastic waste, which ultimately ends up in the ocean.  

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This project partner aims to help eradicate poverty by providing regular, dignified work in an inclusive environment, empowering people to support themselves and their families, while working to eliminate plastic pollution.